Grain door for railway cars



Arron/m5 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOI? flzZ/lflaizzfaasofi/ Jan. 8 1924.

E POSSON GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS Flled Sept. 18. 1919 Jan. 8, 1924. 1,480,008

E. FQSS ON GRAIN noon Fbn RAILWAY cARs 20W 155.- f [mien/[57,, M .Zazzwfr/Fassaza i Jan. 8 Q E. POSSON GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Sept. 18, 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet s IIVVEII/ TOR l1 TTOR/VEYS Jan. 8 1924. 1,480,008

E. POSSON GRAIN DOOR- FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Sept. 18. 1919 5'Sheets-Sheet WITNESSES: I v v INVENTOR 1 fizaardjossozv A 7TORNEY5 Ja n-.8. 1924. I 1,480,008

E. POSSQN I GRAIN DOOR FOR RAILWAY -CAR5 Filed Sept. 18,1919 6 sums-sheet 5 I l I '1.

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,0 v fmz viafo'k' Zazaarafosaon Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

i UNITED" STATS TEN FfF liCE.

EDWARD POSSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF-uONE-HALF TOFREDERICK C. MAEGLY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GRAI noon non Raina/arenas.

Application ,filed September 18, 1919.

T 0 (ZZZ whom it may concern: j

Be it known that I, EDWARD .POSSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newfand use ful Improvements in Grain Doors for Railway Cars, of which the following is a speci .fication.

This invention relates to grain doors for railway cars, and its purpose is to provide an improved sectional grain door in combination with improved means for supporting the door sections and moving them to and from door-closing position.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved grain door in combination with means for guiding the door sections vertically along thedoor posts and then horizontally toward the end of the car, so

that the door sections are supported on the side walls of the car adjacent the roof when not in use. The door sections are preferably relatively narrow in width on account of their weight, and it is therefore desirable to move them in both directions from the door opening towards theopposite ends of the car, suflicient space being thereby afforded for supporting all the door sections in alinement adjacent the roof of the car when not in use. vention is the provision of means-for preventing the removal of any of the door sect-ions from the car, Still another important object is to provide improved slotted guideways for the door sections,-incombination with clips or lugs secured to said sections and engaging the slotted guideways, whereby the door sections are movably, but non-dc tachably, connected with the car structure.

Other objects relate to the various features of construction and arrangement which'will be pointed out more fully hereinafter.

- In the drawings I Figure 1 isa longitudinal section through a railway. car showing a side elevation-of the side wall of the car from: the interior thereof, with my improved grain door clos ing the door opening;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, similar to Fig. 1, showing the door sections in inoperative position supported along the side wall of the car; I

Fig. 3 is anenlarged elevation of one of the door posts and a .portion of the side wall of the car, showing the guideways and.

An important feature of the in- Seria-LNo. 324,569.

the connection of the door sections therewith; l I i ig. 4 showsan enlarged horizontal sec tion over one end of the door section and the vertical guideway connected to a doorpost; Fig. 5 shows an enlarged elevation of the upper end of one of the Verticalguideways,

illustrating the connection of the vertical guideways with the horizontal guideways extending laterally of the car; i I

Fig. 6 ,is an enlarged vertical section through a door section showing the guideway construction in elevation;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section through the side wall of the car showing the mounting of the door secti'ons'on the horizontal guideways;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view, similar to Fig. 7 showing a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged elevation, similar to Fig. 3, showing the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 shows an enlarged horizontal sec tion through the door post illustrating the form of the invention shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

In theaccompanying drawings the freight car is shown as comprising a floor 115, end

walls 16, roof 17, and a side wall '18. The side wall is provided in the usual 'manner with the inside sheathing 19 extending upthe vertical guideways towardthe opposite end wall 16 of the car adjacent the roof 17,

and'the door sections 23 are adapted to be moved from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 to the position: illustratedin Fig.22, where they are'supportedby the-horizontal guideways 25 and 26, in alinement wit-heach other lon itudinallyof the car.

IIach door post '21 has secured to the inner side thereof'a door jamb 29, andthevertical guideways ,24 are preferably in "the form at of hollow channel members-.30,-having longitudinal slots therein idirected inwardly toward the opposite side ofthe car. Each of the channel members 30 extends up wardly from the floor of the car, and communicates with a connecting channel memher or bracket 31, having a vertical slot 31 therein to form a continuation of the slot 30 The lower end of the bracket 31 is provided with cars 32, which are secured to the sides of the channel members 30 by means of screws 33. The channel 31 extends vertically to the top of the door opening and communicates with a transverse slot 31*, which communicates at one end with the slot 34 of a channel member 34 which. forms a part of the upper guideway 25, and extends longitudinally on the door sill 22 above the door opening. The other end of the slot 31 engages with the slot 35 in a channel member 35, which extends longitudinally of the car toward the end wall 16 and forms the major portion of the upper guideway 25 between the door opening and the end wall of the car. These channel members are secured to the supporting members 36 carried by the side wall of the car,

as illustrated, for example, in Fig. 7. The transverse slot 31 at the upper end of the bracket 31 thus forms a continuation of the slots 34* and 35*, whereby a continuous guideway 35 extends substantially throughout the length of the car and over the door opening. The bracket 31 is further provided, adjacent the lower end thereof, with a longitudinal slot 31 which communicates with the slot 37 of a channel member, which channel member extends longitudinally of the car and forms the lower guideway 26. These channel members are secured to supporting members 38 attached to the side wall of the car, and all of the channel members 34, 35, and 37 are secured to the connecting brackets or guide members 31 by means of ears 38 and screws 39. The members 31 and the vertical channel members 30 are secured to the door posts by means of screws 40. Each of the bracket members 31 is provided with an outlet 41 leading toward the opposite door post in alinement with the slot 37 and forming, in effect, a modified extension thereof. The end wall 31 of the bracket 31 is cut away, as shown at 42, to form a continuation of the groove at the lower part of the channel 37, but the end wall 31 about the outlet 41, extends continuously to the upper end of the slot 41, as shown at 43, for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

The door sections 23 are preferably of the form shown particularly in Fig. 7, where it will be seen that each door section comprises a plurality of wooden members 45 covered by layers of sheet metal 46, which extend completely around the door sections and overlap at the points 4?. This construction makes the door sections strong and rigid without unduly increasing their weight 1 ,esopos and prevents warping thereof. The door sections are provided with oppositely disposed flanges 48, so that the horizontal edge of one door section interfits with the coacting horizontal edge of the other section, and forms a grain-tight and weather-tight clo sure. Tl'ie door sections are provided with hand holds 49, located on the side of the center of each door section to permit of the door sections being gripped by the hands of the operator when it is desired to raise or lower the doors.

Each end of the door section 23 is provided adjacent its upper and lower corners with the projecting lugs or clips 50 and 51, respectively, which are secured to the door sections by means of the rivets 52, these rivets serving also to secure the edges of the sheet metal covering 46 to the wooden portion of the door section. Each of the upper lugs or clips 50 comprises a circular plate or head 50 which is spaced outwardly from the face of the door section by an intermediate neck or stem 50. This stem is adapted to engage loosely the slots in the guideways, while the head 50", being of greater width than the width of the slot, loosely fits the undercut grooves formed by the channels of the guideways, so that longitudinal movement of the lugs or clips is permitted in the guideways while preventing their being withdrawn directly therefrom. Each of the lower clips or lugs 51 comprises a head or plate 51 having the irregular shape illustrated, for example, in Fig. 5, this head being spaced outwardly from the face of the door section by a neck or stem 51 These lugs 5lare mounted on the lower corners of the door sections, so that the projecting flanges of the heads extend downwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, thus permitting the head to pass through the outlet opening 41, notwithstanding the depending flange 43 at the upper edge of the outlet opening, while the heads 50 of the upper lugs 50 are prevented from passing through these outlet openings by the flanges 43.

The lugs 50 and 51 have inwardly extending bushings mounted on the rivets 52, and atone end of each door section these bushings may be mounted to move in longitudinal slots 53 in the door sections to permit compensation for expansion of the car con struction or spreading of the door posts, thereby preventing binding of the lugs in the guideways, this construction being shown particularly in Fig. 4.

In the operation of the construction thus described, the door sections may be caused to slide vertically toward the top of the door opening with the lugs or clips 50 and 51 engaging the slots of the vertical guideways 54. The centers of these lugs are spaced apart a distance which is equal to the distance between the centers of the slots of the upper longitudinal guideways and the lower longitudinal guideways26, so that when a door section reaches the upper. limit of its travel in the vertical guideways 24, it may be moved in either direction horizontally toward one end wall of the car.-.Th1s is accomplished by sliding the door section longitudinally with the upper lug, whereupon the upper'lug 50,- at one end of the door section, immediately'engages one of the guide channels 35., while the other lug 50, at

the other end passes throughthe guide channel 54aextending over the door opening. -.At

the same time the lower lugs 51- at the advance end of the door section passes through the adjacent outlet opening 41, and, after passing across the space ofthe door open-.

ing, entersthe other outletopeningwl and into the guide chan'nel 37,-which forms the lower guideway 26 leading toward the opposite end wall ot' the car.

In the. construction illustrated there are four complementary door sections,any one or which maybe passed in either direction after reaching the upper limit ofits travel 1 in the vertical guideways. Two of the door sections may be passed toward one-end of through. may be moved freely through the end of the car.

be supported out of the-way while the doorenin after severalof the door sections the car, and the other two toward the other The door sections may thus is open, and may beraisedinsuccession as the car is empty. When filling the car with grainfthe door sections may be-lowered in succession as the level of the grain rises in he car, and the construction is of advantags, in that it leaves the entire door opening unobstructed, and particularly the upper part thereof, so that a considerablespace remains adjacent the top of the door have been lowered.

yineans of the outlet openingsll having the flanges 43 at the upper parts thereof,

in combination with the construction. of the slotted guide members, lt is apparent that the removal: of the door sections fromsthe guideways is prevented, it beingunderstood that the ends ofthe guide members and 26 are closed adjacent the end walls of the car. It isnecessarytoremove the lower lugs 51 from the guideways in passing the door sections across the dooropening, and to prevent the removal or the door sections by Similarly passing the upper lugsthrough the-outlet openings '41 after the lower lugs 51 have been removed from the guideways, the upper lugs-are made. of difiterent form'and' size than-the lower lugs,

and the'outlet openings-4L1 are constructed to permit thelower lugs only to pass there- In this way the-desired sections guideways, but cannotbe detached bodily therefrom or removed from'the car, It maybe desirable in some cases-to use only the upper let openings ,be made-of special form, as. in, the embodilongitudinal guideways 25, eliminating the uideways 26. but itis preferable to use per and lower corners with lugs or clips and 61, respectively, having enlarged heads 60 spaced from the face of the door section by intermediate necks or stems 60 the lower lugs similarly have enlarged heads 61" and stems 61". The guideways on the vertical door-posts 21 are formed by spacing membersor cleats 62 having vertical plates 63 secured to the outer sides thereof and overlapping the inner edges of the spacing 1nembers to form guide channels 63, as shown in Fig. 10, the plates, as well as the spacing members, being secured to the posts 21 by nieans of screws 65. If desired, one of the spacing members 62 maybe formed as a part of the door jamb'66. The plates 63.

are spaced apart forming a slot 63, which is adapted to be engaged loosely by the necks 60 and 61" of the lugs and clips, the heads of these clips overlapping the edges of the plates 63, as illustrated in the drawings. The plates 63 terminate below the upper edge of the door opening and are spaced apart from other plates 63, which form continuations thereof with outlet openings 66 between them. A guide plate 67.- extends longitudinally of the car over-the door open-- ing, being connected to the inner plate 63 at each side of the dooropening, and upper and lower guide plates'68 and 69 extend longitudinally of thecar from the upper and lower ends of. the outer guide. plates 63,

the plates 68 and 69, as well as the plate 67, beingsecured to. frame members 70, as illustrated in Fig; 8, said framemembers being provided with longitudinal undercut portions so thatigrooves are r'ormed to receivethe flanges of the heads 60 and 61 of the lugs and clips, as illustrated in Fig. 8. In this way, the door sections may he moved longitudinally of the car with the plates 67, 68 and 69 forming guideways and overlapping the heads of the lugs, so that the removal of the .door sections from the guideways is prevented. The outlet openings66 permit thelower lug 61' to pass outwardly from the vertical guideways and across the space of the door-opening when moving the door sections horizontally from the vertical guideways. If desired, the out- 66 and the lowerlugs 61 may ment previously described, in order to prevent the passage of the upper lug 60 through the opening 66.

Although I have shown and described two embodiments of the invention for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed in Various different forms without departing from the scope of. the appended claims.

WVhat I claim is:

l. The combination in a railway car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, guides extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, and longitudinal guides extending from said door opening toward both ends of the car, and lugs secured to each end of said door sections and adapted to engage said guides, whereby said door sections may be moved vertically and also be moved from said vertical guides toward either end of said car on said longitudinal guides.

2. The combination in a railway car hav ing a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, guides exextending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a longitudinal guide extending over said door opening and longitudinally therefrom toward both ends of said car, and a pair of lugs secured .to each end of said door sections and adapted to engage said vertical guides, said vertical guides having outlets below the top of said car to permit passage therefrom of the lower lugs of each pair when the upper lug of that pair passes into said longitudinal guide.

3. The combination in a railway car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a pair of slotted guide nembers communicating with said first named guide members and extending longitudinally therefrom toward both ends of the car, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each door section and adapted to engage said vertical guide members and said longitudinal guide members, said vertical guide members having outlets opposite the lower longitudinal guide member of each pair to permit the passage of the lower lug at one end of each door section therefrom upon movement of a door section in either direction longitudinally of the car from said door opening.

4. The combination in a railway} car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, slotted guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a longitudinal slotted guide member communicating with said vertical guide members and extending longitudinally therefrom toward one end of the car, a second longitudinal slotted guide member communicating with one of said vertical named members and extending therefrom parallel to said first named longitudinal guide member, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each door section and adapted to engage said guide members, said lugs terminating in discs adapted to overlap the walls of the slots in said guide members.

5. The combination in a railway car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, slots ted guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a slotted guide member communicating with said first-named guide members and extending along the top of said door opening and 1011- gitudinally therefrom toward one end of said car, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each of said door sections and slidably engaging the slots in said guide members, said lugs overlapping said guide members inwardly of said slots, said vertical guide members having outlets to permit the passage of one lug of each pair therefrom.

6. The combination in a railway car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, slotted guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a slotted guide member communicating with said vertical guide members and extending along the top of said door opening and thence longitudinally toward both ends of said car, other longitudinal slotted guide members communicating with said vertical guide members and extending therefrom beneath and parallel to saidfirst named longitudinal guide member, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each door section to engage said slotted guide members, said vertical guide members having outlets directed toward said door opening opposite said lower longitudinal guide members whereby the lower lug of each pair may be passed out of the vertical guide member engaged thereby to permit the movement of each door section longitudinally from said door opening toward either end of the car.

7. The combination in a railway car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, slotted guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a guide member communicating with said firstnamed guide members and extending along the top of said door opening and longitudinally therefrom toward one end of said car, another guide member extending longitudi nally' of said car below said other longitudinal guide member and communicating with one of said vertical slotted guide members at one edge of said door opening, said lastnamed vertical guide member having an outlet opposite said lower longitudinal guide member, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each door section and engaging said guide members.

8. The combination in a railway car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, slotted guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a slotted guide member communicating with said firstnamed guide members and extending along the top of said door opening and longitudinally therefrom toward one end of said car, another slotted guide member extending longitudinally of said car beneath said other longitudinal guide member and communicaa ing with the slotted guide member along one edge of said door opening, the slots of the guide members along both edges of said door opening having outlets therefrom directed toward said door opening in alinement with said lower longitudinal guide member, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each door section and engaging the slots in said guide members.

9. The combination in a railway car hav ing a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, slotted guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a slotted guide member communicating wit-h said first-named guide members and extending alon the top of said door opening and longitudinally therefrom toward one end of said car, another slotted guide member extending longitudinally of said car beneath said other longitudinal guide member and communicating with the slot-ted guide member along one edge of said door opening, the

slots of the guide members along both edges of said door opening having outlets therefrom directed toward said door opening in alinement with said lower longitudinal guide member, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each door section and engaging the slots in said guide members, said lugs terminating in parts of greater width than the width of said slots.

10. The combination in a railway car having a door opening in its wall, of a plurality of complementary door sections, slotted guide members extending vertically along the edges of said door opening, a slotted guide member communicating with said firstnamed guide members and extending along the top of said door opening and longitudinally therefrom toward one end of said car, another slotted guide member extending longitudinally of said car beneath said other longitudinal guide member and communicating with the slotted guide member along one edge of said door opening, the'slots of the guide members along both edges of said door opening having outlets therefrom directed toward said door opening in alinement with said lower longitudinal guide member, and a pair of lugs secured to each end of each of said door sections, the lugs of each pair being spaced apart the distance between the slots of said longitudinal guide members, said outlets from said vertical guide members being adapted to prevent passage therethrough of the upper lufg of each pair.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

EDWARD POSSON. 

